Christian bakery criticised by new NI minister

Christian bakery criticised by new NI minister

The Christian bakers who are facing legal action for declining to decorate a pro-gay marriage campaign cake acted against the law, a new minister at the Northern Ireland Office has suggested.

MP Andrew Murrison said that businesses should “comply with the law” which “prevents discrimination against gay people”.

But Ashers Baking Company says their actions had nothing to do with the sexual orientation of the customer who placed the order.

Gathering 14 - Full Trailer!

Words for the Wise, Psalm 23 New International Version - UK (NIVUK), The Lord is my Shepherd

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    for ever.

The Bible Panorama

Psalm 23

V 1–2: SHEPHERD David knows, as we can, that the Lord is his Shepherd. The meeting of his wants, rest and refreshment come through that wonderful relationship. 

V 3: SOUL With his soul restored, he is guided by his Shepherd in the paths of righteousness ‘for His name’s sake’.

V 4: SHADOW Even when death casts its shadow in the valley, there is no fear of evil, because of the presence, protection and guidance of the Lord

. V 5–6: SURELY The present experience of being fed and anointed by God encourages David to know ‘surely’ that goodness and mercy will be his during the rest of his life and throughout eternity.

Abundant Life (23:2–3) Niv Application Commentary

The shepherd leads his sheep in pleasant places full of all the necessities of life: green pastures of grass and quiet streams providing water for drinking. Those who have visited the undeveloped lands of the Bible will know just how unusual this picture is. At best the land is a dry, rocky set of rolling hills covered with a sparse and tough grass. Water sources are few and often seasonal. Shepherds had to be ready to take their flocks on long migrations from one source of grazing and water to another.

The psalmist paints a scene of abundant life in three descriptive statements—each speaking of the shepherd in the third person and employing an imperfect verb form. The shepherd causes the sheep to lie down, makes them approach quiet waters carefully, and leads them faithfully on the correct paths. All three images emphasize the shepherd’s role as provider.

Obviously grass and water are the sheep’s staff of life, and the shepherd knows how to find them both and leads the hungering, thirsty sheep to them. Although “paths of righteousness” may have an unusual ring to our ears, it can mean no more than the “right path,” that is, the one that gets you where you need to go. The ambiguity of language and context, however, allows a moral quality to creep in. If the shepherd and sheep are images of a life fully dependent and trusting on Yahweh, then “paths of righteousness” take on the meaning of a way of life that fulfills God’s expectation for his follower. The sheep are not left to their own devices but are led by God himself to take the correct path—the one that gets the sheep where they need to go.

For his name’s sake. The shepherd (God) acts in ways that reveal and confirm his character and nature. In the Hebrew culture, a personal name was often thought to reveal the character of the individual named. God’s revelation to Israel of his personal name Yahweh at the time of the Exodus gave her unprecedented knowledge of his nature and access to him. This knowledge and access had to be protected by the prohibition against abusive use of the divine name. Closely related to this idea is the concept of reputation. To have a “name” is to bear agood reputation, while to be disreputable is to have no name at all (Job 30:8). Here, however, the shepherd/Yahweh acts to benefit the sheep, not just in order to preserve his character or reputation but in a way that is consistent with the nature the name reveals.

How mass migration hurts us all: No, it's not the Mail saying this, but the verdict of a top Left-wing economist from Cambridge

The findings are a major blow to claims that immigration has and will continue to bring major economic benefits. Over the past decade, widely-publicised studies by academics and liberal think tanks have repeatedly said that immigration will make us better off.

Among those reported by the BBC have been claims by the Labour-leaning Institute for Public Policy Research that immigrants are paying a disproportionate share of the nation’s taxes, and that they bring economic benefits because they do jobs that Britons will not take.

Last November the BBC reported a study by two senior academics at University College London as saying immigrants who have arrived since 2000 have made a ‘substantial’ addition to public finances.

However, since Tony Blair introduced an effectively open-door immigration policy after the 1997 election the Daily Mail has been reporting on the impact of migration on population; on the social make-up of cities; on unemployment, worklessness, and declining wages for low-skilled workers; and on the pressure it has brought on housing and services.

Read more here:

Isaiah 58:6-12 Nasb

“Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
⁷ “Is it not to divide your bread ^[c]with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ “Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The ^[d]pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ And if you ^[e]give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the ^[f]desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
¹¹ “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your ^[g]desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not ^[h]fail.
¹² “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the ^[i]streets in which to dwell.

Jaguar's new 1-Series rival exposed | News | Auto Express

Jaguar's new 1-Series rival exposed | News | Auto Express







Yes, Please!

How God Used a Woman Despite Her Weaknesses

How God Used a Woman Despite Her Weaknesses

"For the Lord is always kind; be not blind," wrote Amy Carmichael. Kind? To let me end up at Moody under such a cloud? Kind? To let me begin with the CIM under such a stigma?

Yes. You see, the Lord foreknew there was a work to be done in me before I sailed for China, and if I had ended Institute life with great acclaim I would have wrecked that work at the very outset. My self-confidence needed to be thoroughly jarred before He dare put this delicate affair into my hands. And He jarred it all right.

My Master is thorough, but He had also been meticulously kind—just as soon as He dared, He showed me why. And that experience of His enfolding love after my graduation ceremony has blessed me all my life.

Only by searching can we find out what He is. When the door opened for China again, I received a letter from a member of the Council, granting me unconditional acceptance by the China Inland Mission, and sending me off with their "loving prayers and blessings."

I bowed my head over that little letter and wept tears of gratitude. Yes, my Master is thorough. He wounds, but He binds up, and His balm of Gilead heals without stinging. It cools, refreshes and restores in every part. He gives the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness and brings beauty out of our ashes.

Ticket the old, they'll always pay: How the ruthless parking cowboys tell their wardens to exploit the vulnerable Daily Mail Parking Campaign

  War veterans, great-grandmothers and vulnerable hospital patients are singled out in 'unjust and immoral' practice 

  Dozens of elderly drivers tell Mail how they are being threatened and pursued by bailiffs over minor parking queries

  Many have fallen victim to a string of 'dirty tricks' with companies said to use intentionally small warnings on signs

  Scroll down to print off your free 'Get Lost Parking Pirates' sign, and for details on how to receive a sticker by post

‘There is a veil of secrecy about the business practices of private car park operators that needs to be lifted. 

THE BULLY TACTICS

·         Unclear or missing signage on parking machines, making it difficult to buy the correct ticket

·         Overly complicated pay machines

·         Hefty fines for mistakes such as entering the wrong registration details into pay-and-display machines

·         Wardens allegedly instructed to never give information about the motorist’s rights to appeal 

·         Information about how to appeal is written on tickets in tiny font, making it difficult for elderly people to read

·         Tiny signs warning against leaving car parks to get change to buy a ticket

·         Penalising drivers for resting too long at motorway service stations – despite the risks of driving when tired

‘What’s needed is independent and effective regulation of the private car parking industry, which puts the consumer interest first.’

AA president Edmund King added: ‘We think some of the signage is really confusing in order to catch out elderly drivers as they are an easy target. 

‘The companies know they won’t appeal if threatened with bailiffs and legal letters. It is unacceptable these companies are targeting them.’

Claims that wardens are hounding the elderly come after the Mail revealed hundreds of thousands of drivers are being ‘fined’ by private parking firms, often with little reason and without legal authority.

Signs are often difficult to make out and payment machines can be complicated, involving keying the driver’s number plate into a computer system.

Whistleblower Tony Taylor, who worked for one of the firms until December, said bosses told wardens to focus on ticketing pensioners.

The company – UK Parking Control – runs car parks for NHS hospitals, Royal Mail and a number of high street shops and restaurants, including McDonalds and Marks & Spencer.

Mr Taylor said: ‘The wardens are told to target the elderly and disabled. The elderly are likely to pay.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

The wardens on £3k bonuses urged to issue scores of parking tickets daily, target vulnerable people and take photographs at angles to make offences seem worse